OP: 101 Ways to Prepare Macaroni

V. La Rosa & Sons, Inc., 1949. Staplebound pamphlet. Fair.

Founded in Brooklyn in 1914, La Rosa successfully capitalized on the growing demand for pasta in the US, as well as the then still new packaged food industry.

This 1949 pamphlet boasts the company’s 41 pasta shapes, smartly indicating that though the dough is the same for each, their shapes were developed for different culinary applications. 

You’ll find expected Italian/Italian-American fare like chicken tetrazzini, two varieties of minestrone (one Florentine and one Genovan), lasagne imbottite—here made with tomato sauce, sliced mozzarella, ricotta, and meatballs; a previous owner penned a double underlined “good” next to this one.

Some less obvious candidates for pasta consumption also make an appearance: split pea soup with tubettini, fish chowder with ditalini, frankfurter tomato sauce served over shells, and a dessert called cheese noodle cake, utilizing egg noodles baked in a custard with cottage cheese and lemon juice and zest.

Our copy can be graded as only Fair, as the cover shows soiling, chipping and creasing, and is almost detached. Slight liquid damage to an upper corner. The interior, however, is largely clean and bright. Color illustrations.